


Tripping

by whisperingtales



Category: The Folk of the Air - Holly Black
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Post-Book 3: The Queen of Nothing, Soft Cardan Greenbriar, drunk jude, jurdan - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:53:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29496117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whisperingtales/pseuds/whisperingtales
Summary: “It should be illegal how long and dark and beautiful your eyelashes are.”Post The Queen of Nothing.
Relationships: Jude Duarte/Cardan Greenbriar
Comments: 2
Kudos: 120





	Tripping

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, there! This is my first work for this fandom, so please don't be mean !!!
> 
> If there are any grammar mistakes, I apologize. Let me know so I can correct them :)
> 
> Any feedback, positive or negative, constructive criticism is welcome <3
> 
> I'll leave you to it now, hope you like it!

With a huff, Jude tightened her shoes, and reached her bedside table for a small dagger she always kept hidden. She grabbed the weapon and secured it to her thigh. 

It was well known to her small circle, if not to everyone in Elfhame, that the Queen did not yearn for parties. Especially not tonight. Her usually cranky mood was intensified by a dimwitted fight she’d had with Cardan. She knew they were both being stupid, but her pride wouldn’t let her soften her stare, or her tone for that matter, when directed to her husband. At least until he deigned to apologize and begged for her forgiveness.

Jude left her chambers, moving past the guard, and made her way to the packed throne room. The moment she stepped in, heads turned her way before deeply bowing to the mortal queen. It was no surprise, since she was dressed in an exquisite emerald gown with a translucent cape, adjusted in all the right places; her hair twisted in the fashion of her usual horns, but this time they were sprinkled with jewelry as golden and refined as the one on her neck and ears. 

Jude felt Cardan’s piercing eyes on her before hers found him. She made a show of slowly nearing his side, fixing her burning stare on the High King. When she reached the throne, she grabbed a glass of wine from a silver platter and, seemingly bored, started swirling it in her hand. They’d been playing this game for a long time, Cardan and her.

“You took your sweet time, didn’t you, wife?”

It was not quite a question but she still answered, “I wasn’t aware my presence was so imperative.”

He clicked his tongue and got off his seat. “All welcome the High Queen of Elfhame”. As everyone cheered, Cardan held his hand up to Jude. “Care for a dance?”

She gave him the sourest of smiles before taking it.

When Jude was about to complain about her aching feet, a faerie clad in a red and gray tunic asked her hand for a song. About a piece and a half later, another one approached her. And it wasn’t until after she downed a strangely looking purple drink, that she accepted his offer.

It was way past sunrise, when Cardan saw a tipsy Jude collide into a pixie and almost fall onto a banquet table. He tried to casually reach her side and held her by the waist.

“Aren’t you tired, my queen? We better get you to bed before you crash into a tapestry,” he whispered into her ear.

They were on the third day of a revel celebrated in honor of Cardan’s birthday. And it wasn’t enough that Jude had hardly paid any attention to him the whole event, but just to spite him, she’d also downed as many glasses full of red liquid as she was offered  —he’d have a word with the service later— , and danced with every member of the folk who was bold enough to approach her.

Jude let out a little giggle. “You’re funny.” Her glinting eyes indicated a hazy brain and a not so mild intoxication. Nothing he hadn’t been through before, though he wasn’t sure how it would make Jude react.

“Come on, let’s go to our chambers.”

“Don’t have to ask me twice,” she purred. And winked.

Once in their rooms, between yawns and short bursts of laughter, Cardan managed to take off her shoes, undress her, and slip her into one of his princely blouses. It had not been an easy task since Jude wouldn’t stay still or quit looking intently into his eyes.

Cardan grabbed her hand and guided her towards their bed. He lay down first and prompted Jude to do the same. But she was stubborn, and crossed her arms across her chest, her eyes throwing daggers at him.

“What now?” Regardless of being well aware of Jude’s complex character, he didn’t understand the change in her mood. But it was also true that there was a thin line between horny and infuriated. 

“I’m not sleeping on the same bed as you are.”

He seemed taken aback by that, as if he hadn’t been expecting that response. “What do you mean you’re not sleeping in the same bed as I am?”

“Do you want me to spell it out for you? Fine. I didn’t like the way you undermined me at the meeting.”

“I did not do such thing.”

“You practically humiliated me,” she raised her voice. “You dismissed every input, discarded every idea like a toy you played with as a child.”

“That’s untrue. I didn’t overlook your contributions, I merely thought it would be wise to let everyone have a say in the matter.”

“So kind of you. May I remind you who ruled Elfhame for almost a year, no help granted, no cooperation from the actual High King?”

Hurt flashed in Cardan’s eyes. “You betrayed me then. I improved remarkably at being a ruler, we both know that. And when you were gone I did everything on my own.”

“Because you exiled me!”

“I thought we’d moved past that!” He half yelled back, not caring if the guards heard them.

“That’s not an excuse. I was vulnerable and you took advantage of it.”

“I did it to protect you! What did you expect me to do? Start a war with the undersea?”

“Maybe I’ll start a war with you,” she muttered.

Cardan took a moment to breathe. He truly couldn’t believe they were having this conversation. They hadn’t quarrelled like that for a while.

“I’m drawing up a bath for you. We can talk after you’ve subdued your temperament.”

Before she could argue back, he headed to their bathing chamber. He added the essences and flowers she liked, and when he was finished, he called out for her. Jude reluctantly joined him, stripped herself from her clothes and stepped into the tub. And without sparing him a look, she said, “you can go now.”

Cardan bit his tongue to avoid arguing further. “That’s what I get for marrying a scorpio,” he murmured. He’d heard someone say that on tv one time, and once he learnt Jude’s zodiac sign, it stuck.

When he heard the bathing room door open, he sat on the bed with his back to it.

“You can turn around, you know.”

“Are you decent?”

“Cardan. We’ve been married for over a year.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.” Jude was still very much drunk, and he felt like he owed her at least a little decorum.

He didn’t see her, but he knew she was rolling her eyes. “Yes, I’m decent.”

Cardan turned to face her and he felt his heart soften at the sight of a sleepy Jude in his shirt.

“Come on, get your vicious self here,” he patted her side of the mattress.

Jude took unsteady steps towards the bed and lay down beside Cardan. She buried her head on his pillow and moaned into it. “I’m sorry I was being a bitch.”

The queen then looked up at her husband and pouted. “I actually missed you tonight.”

“We danced together,” he reminded her.

Slurring the words, she managed to say, “yeah, but then that old faerie took me from your arms and after that, I danced the night away with like twenty other gentry.”

Cardan reached and pulled a curl behind her ear, caressing its round curve in the process. “I guess we only have one person to hold accountable for that.”

“Who? You?”

“Oh, my sweet villain,” he sighed.

For the next couple of minutes they lay together in silence, exchanging a million words with only their eyes. The quiet broke when Jude furrowed her brows and whispered, “it should be illegal how long and dark and beautiful your eyelashes are.” She said it with such seriousness that Cardan failed to suppress his laughter. 

Jude started tracing the shape of his lashes, then the curve of his nose, his lips, his jaw. He took hold of her wrist and pressed a kiss to the palm of her hand.

“Sleep, my love.”

She smiled so broadly, she took Cardan’s breath out of him. He hardly ever got to witness his wife in such a state of vulnerability.

Jude moved closer to him and hugged his waist, her head on his chest. Her eyes slowly closing, and her evening breath told Cardan sleep was coming to her. 

He rested his chin on her head and said softly under his breath, “By you I am forever undone, my darling god.”

  
  
  
  



End file.
